Former KC neighbor swapped Christmas cookies with woman killed by ICE: ‘Senseless’
Jennifer Ferguson stood on the front step of her Waldo home on the south side of Kansas City Thursday and grappled with her former neighbor’s sudden place in the national spotlight.
Renee Good, a former resident of Ferguson’s quiet Waldo neighborhood, was fatally shot Wednesday by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent during a targeted immigration operation in Minneapolis. Video of the shooting, which shows federal agents confronting Good inside a vehicle, has brought widespread attention to Good’s death and prompted protests in Minneapolis.
Demonstrations are also planned in Kansas City.
The day Good, 37, was killed, Jan. 7, was already a traumatic day for Ferguson, as it also marked the death of several of her loved ones. Good’s violent, viral death is another tragic death on that day, she said.
“January 7 can kiss my ass,” Ferguson told The Star. “I have a dear friend whose son committed suicide last year on January 7th, my father died on January 7th. This day can go ... to heck.”
Good and her partner, Rebecca, and their son had lived in the neighborhood for about a year and a half before they moved out in December 2024, Ferguson said. Court records, meanwhile, show Good and her partner living in the area until at least the fall of 2023.
Good’s mother, Donna Ganger, confirmed her identity to the media in Minneapolis. She said Good lived in Minneapolis with her partner.
“It’s shocking,” Ferguson said of Good’s death. She reached out to Rebecca and offered her support.
Ferguson was beginning to watch coverage of the incident on CNN when a local reporter began knocking at her door and told her the news. Ferguson has lived intermittently across the street from where Good and her family lived for approximately 13 years.
“I can’t see this having been a premeditated thing on their part,” she said. “I think it’s senseless. I just pray that we don’t have more violence over it.”
The couple didn’t talk politics, but Ferguson said her understanding when they left Kansas City was that they planned to move to Canada. The couple broke the lease on their home on East 78th Terrace in Waldo and moved out in December 2024, she said.
“I guess they made the decision that if Trump won the election, they were going to get out before the inauguration,” she said.
The family lived frugally, Ferguson said, since Good’s partner sold a company and didn’t work as Good attended graduate school online.
Ferguson’s daughter played with Good’s young son outside, and the family would enjoy archery games and swimming in an inflatable pool in the summer. The Goods would occasionally ask for food when the Fergusons had a barbecue. They’d trade neighborly banter and talk about what was going on in the community. They swapped Christmas cookies as a parting gift before the Goods left Kansas City.
“They were just two ladies with a cool kid,” Ferguson said. Good’s older children visited in the summer, she said.
How Kansas City has embraced Renee Good
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas gave condolences to Good and her loved ones in a statement on Thursday.
“Kansas City mourns the loss of a former neighbor, Renee Nicole Good,” Lucas said. “Two things that our country desperately needs are justice and decency.”
Lucas said he is putting his faith in the authorities in Minnesota to conduct a thorough and fair investigation, according to his statement.
“Kansas Citians will extend our condolences to Renee’s family and friends,” he added. “And, we hope Congress actually works to prevent more tragedies like this one.”
Good filed a petition to change her last name in Jackson County Circuit Court in October 2023, listing a Kansas City address. She requested a name change from Renee Nicole Macklin to Renee Nicole Macklin Good, to share a name with her partner, according to records.
At a news conference Wednesday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Good had “weaponized her vehicle” and tried to run over agents after their vehicle became stuck in snow. Noem defended the shooting as self-defense and accused Good of an act of “domestic terrorism.”
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz dispute the government’s claims surrounding what led up to the shooting. They say the videos show Good driving away from agents, not aiming at them.
As Kansas City plans demonstrations and vigils in Good’s memory, Ferguson hopes this incident doesn’t bring federal attention to Kansas City.
“From the video I’ve seen, I don’t see it,” Ferguson said about Good’s death. “I just hope it doesn’t turn into more divisiveness in our city. We don’t need it, we don’t want ICE here.”
This story was originally published January 8, 2026 at 4:16 PM.
